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GG Aleste II
Developer(s)Sega
Publisher(s)Compile
Producer(s)Masamitsu Niitani
Programmer(s)Takumi Yamashita
Composer(s)Tomoe Oya, Tomoki Minami
SeriesAleste

Preceded by GG Aleste

Followed by GG Aleste III
Platform(s)Sega Game Gear
Release1993
Genre(s) Vertical Scrolling shooter
Mode(s)Single-player

GG Aleste II (GGアレスタⅡ) or GG Aleste II: Lance Bird is a shoot-em-up vertical scrolling video game released on October 10, 1993 for the Sega Game Gear system.[1] It is the direct sequel to GG Aleste and directly precedes GG Aleste III in Compile's Aleste series.[2]

In 1994[2] it was rebranded and re-released as Power Strike II outside of Japan also for the Sega Game Gear System. It is not to be confused with, and is unrelated to the game Power Strike II (Master System Game). It was later re-released in December 2020 in part of a compilation titled Aleste Collection.[2][3]

Plot[edit]

The story takes place in 2070.[4] Earth is protected by a set of armored defensive satellites. An unknown object has attached itself to the largest of these satellites, named AL-45 Algo,[5] similar in size to the Moon, and taken control of it. Pilot Alice Waizen is testing the prototype GG Aleste Model II "Lance Bird" ship when she is alerted to this threat and flies off to stop it.[4][5]

"The enemy is planning a major attack on our solar system. You are our best pilot! You must lead the counterattack! Strike now!"

— GG Aleste II, back of box packaging

Gameplay[edit]

Gameplay remains unchanged from GG Aleste, however it added additional gameplay customization and an option to choose which sub-weapon to start the game with.[4] There are six stages and three bosses after stages one, five, and six. There is a bonus stage after stage two and stage five.[6] There are four levels of difficulty (Easy, Normal, Hard, and Mania) and eight speed level options to choose from.[5]

The player controls Alice who is piloting the ship called the VF-2012LB GG Aleste II, codenamed Lance Bird. There are 4 available main weapon options for the player to choose from, which is only possible to change through collecting Item Pick-Ups during gameplay. The ship moves by pressing the D-pad and launches attacks upon pressing the "1" button, which can be held down to continuously launch attacks. During gameplay, the standard weapon can be upgraded, up to four levels, by collecting Power Chips. The standard weapon may also be augmented, temporarily, by collecting Special Weapon Power-ups. These Special Weapons launch attacks simultaneously with the main weapon. The player is also able to stock screen-clearing bombs called G Strikes and may use them at any time. Additional G Strikes can be acquired through collecting Power Chips.[7]

The Lance Bird has a Round field Generator that shields it from being hit by an enemy and once hit it is destroyed. The following sequential hit, while the shield is destroyed will result in the Lance Bird being destroyed, costing the player one "life" and also resulting in the player's weapons being downgraded one level upon losing one "life," the player will have to wait one moment for the ship to respawn. At certain point thresholds the player will gain an extra "life." The player begins the game with three "lives" (counter will display the number of "lives" remaining after "dying") and there will be a "game over" if the player runs out of "lives," however the player has unlimited continues.[7]

Stages[edit]

There are six stages in which the story progresses.[5][7]

  1. "Encounter" Space Plant: Alice arrives at a solar storage plant, encountering an unknown enemy.
  2. "Crisis" Ground Base: Alice returns to Earth and must defeat invading enemies.
  3. "City" Bionic City: The city "Grand Palace" has been invaded by enemies: Alice must defeat them.
  4. "Desert" Ancient Ruins: Enemies have invaded Egypt: Alice must defeat them.
  5. "Rush" Cyber Road: Alice travels towards the Argo and must defeat the enemies along the way.
  6. "Decisive Battle" Inter Argo: Alice has arrived inside the Argo and must defeat the final enemy.

Ship Weapons[edit]

The player's ship, Lance Bird has four available Main Weapon options.[7]

  • Delta Form: is a sub-ship, that flys around the Lance Bird, potentially preventing the Lance Bird from taking damage. It periodically fires its own shot straight head from its location. Upgrading it will increase the number of sub-ships circling the Lance Bird to up to three in total.
  • Hammer Hawk: shoots two homing missiles, one to the left and the second to the right, diagonally outwards and then straight ahead, parallel to, but outside of the main shot. Upgrades increase number of missiles available at any given time up to eight in total.
  • Neo Napalm Gun: periodically shoots two napalm bombs, one to the left and the second to the right, diagonally and forwards from the Lance Bird that detonate outside of the main shot also a short distance away from the Lance Bird. Upgrades increase the number of bombs launched and increases explosion size which is increasing damage area.
  • Rising Masher: shoots two laser guns, straight ahead from an added green barrel to the left and right sides of the Lance Bird, parallel to and slightly overlapping the main shot. Upgrades increase the total number of lasers being fired at any given time up to four in total.

Items[edit]

During gameplay it is possible to collect items by flying over the item icons. Immediately upon collecting an item, the Lance Bird will temporarily not take damage if hit. The following is a list of some available items:[7]

Ability-Related Items[edit]

  • Power Chip Carrier: Used to release Power Chips.
  • Power Chip: Can either upgrade the attack speed and power of the standard weapon or give the player additional G Strike by activating the Round Field Generator.

Weapon-Related Items[edit]

  • Special Weapon Power Chip: Upgrades the special weapon, up to four levels.
  • Special Weapon Carrier: Used to release a special weapon item, changing the current special weapon to the weapon indicated by the item being used.
  • Delta Form Item: Equips the special weapon Delta Form.
  • Hammer Hawk Item: Equips the special weapon Hammer Hawk.
  • Neo Napalm Gun Item: Equips the special weapon Neo Napalm Gun.
  • Rising Masher Item: Equips the special weapon Rising Masher.

"Life"-Related Items[edit]

  • 1-Up: Gives the player an extra life.

Development[edit]

Tanida, who became the chief developer of the compilation, had asked Hiroki Kodama to produce this work. Takumi Yamashita (TAKIN) was in charge of programming. It is speculated that the production of this work started before "Robo Aleste," however Kodama wanted Yamashita to take more time working on GG Aleste II before releasing it.[8] Masanobu Tsukamoto did the sound design.[4] Masamitsu Niitani was the producer,[8][9] however he is credited as "Moo Nitani" in the ending credits.[6]

Differences from GG Aleste[edit]

There are more effects than the previous work and the drawing method has changed to make the screen easier to view. This new drawing method changed the enemy bullets were changed to red and green to improve visibility from the possible distortion that commonly occurred in the crystal display of the Game Gear.[4] The bosses were also drawn larger. The bonus stages were changed to pseudo 3D, including the use of parallax scrolling, also known as horizontal raster scrolling, in order to make the game more interesting.[8]

Differences from GG Aleste III[edit]

There are no similaries in sound design from GG Aleste II and GG Aleste III.[4]

Regional Differences[edit]

Due to name differences, GG Aleste II, in Japan, and Power Strike II in the European version, the start screen of the Japanese version included the words "Lance Bird." The Japanese version includes a male protagonist, while the European version has a female protagonist.[4]

  • GG Aleste II Product Images
  • Power Strike II (Sega Game Gear) EU Box (Spine)

Aleste Series[edit]

See also: Aleste and Power Strike
Official timelines
Aleste (MSX2) timeline
  • Robo Aleste
  • Aleste Gaiden
  • M.U.S.H.A.
  • Aleste (MSX2)
  • Aleste 2
GG Aleste timeline
  • GG Aleste
  • Power Strike II (GG)
  • GG Aleste 3
No timeline known
  • Power Strike (SMS)
  • Power Strike II (SMS)
  • Space Megaforce
  • Aleste Branch
  • Senjin Aleste

Aleste was followed by several sequels:

Cancelled games[edit]

Related GamesGG Aleste II follows GG Aleste and preceeds GG Aleste III. There are also similar games, some of which various Aleste entries are based on; for example, Gunhed would inspire Super Aleste on the SNES. Zanac is the game that set down the template for the Aleste series and nearly all of Compile's future shooters.[11]

Finally, it is known that around 1993, various employees left Compile and joined Raizing, where they made similar games including:

In 2020, GG Aleste II was re-released in part of a compilation known as Aleste Collection.[2][3]

Trivia[edit]

  • The Algo is similar in size to the Moon[7]
  • Alice Waizen is the cousin of Ellinor Waizen, the protagonist of GG Aleste.[4][5]
  • Masamitsu Niitani is credited as "Moo Niitani" in the ending credits.[4]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Sega. "Game Gear Cartridge (Sega released)". Archived from the original on December 7, 2018.
  2. ^ a b c d Burnskill, Kerry (December 30, 2020). "Five Frantic Years - A Brief History of Aleste". Archived from the original on June 11, 2022.
  3. ^ a b Fanelli, Davide (June 14, 2022). "Aleste Collection annunciata per PS4 e Switch". Archived from the original on June 14, 2022.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Niitani, Masamitsu. Oral History (in Japanese). Ritsumeikan Center for Game Studies. {{cite book}}: |archive-date= requires |archive-url= (help)
  5. ^ a b c d e "GG Aleste 2" (PDF). U-netsurf (in JP). November 18, 2003. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 16, 2022. Retrieved June 16, 2022. {{cite web}}: |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; January 23, 2022 suggested (help)CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  6. ^ a b Martinoz, Martinoz (2020). "GG Aleste II Lance Bird for Sega Game Gear by Compile [720p]".
  7. ^ a b c d e f アレスタ２ Game Gear (in JP). Sega, Compile. 1993. Archived from the original on June 16, 2022. {{cite book}}: |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; August 1, 2020 suggested (help)CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  8. ^ a b c "『GGアレスタ』シリーズ大鼎談！ シリーズのキーマン小玉氏、並木氏、ナカシマ氏が裏話を語り尽くす". Dengeki Online. January 14, 2021. Archived from the original on June 16, 2022.
  9. ^ "Masamitsu Niitani".
  10. ^ How M2 went back to the Game Gear for its magnum opus • Eurogamer.net
  11. ^ "Zanac". at Hardcore Gaming 101.

External links[edit]

Category:1988 video games Category:Compile (company) games Category:MSX2 games Category:Mobile games Category:Vertically scrolling shooters Category:Master System games Category:Square Enix games Category:Video game franchises introduced in 1988 Category:Video games developed in Japan Category:Virtual Console games Category:Single-player video games Category:Sega video games Category:Video games set in the 21st century

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